1. Field
Embodiments of the invention related to transportation planning vehicle scheduling. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to a new model of shipments used in a transportation planning vehicle scheduling system.
2. Background
Existing transportation planning/vehicle scheduling (TPVS) systems, such as those available from SAP AG of Walldorf, Germany, store shipment activities within the data structure of corresponding planned orders. FIG. 1A is a diagram of a prior art data structure. The sales order data structure 102, which may alternatively be referred to as a sales order document, includes shipment information 104 and more particularly shipment activities 106, which may include such things as loading, unloading, transport, empty legs, breaks, etc. Since shipment activities are retained within the sales order data structure 102, it is not possible for a TPVS shipment to exist without an original order.
FIG. 1B is a diagram of a transportation plan. FIG. 1B illustrates activities of the transportation plan stored within each sales order. Start activity 120 and end activity 122 are basically housekeeping activities for a TPVS system. In this model, load activities are designated with an L, transport activities with a T, break activities with a B, and unload activites with a U. As shown in dotted lines, this model includes significant redundant data as a same transport activity 130 is replicated as transport activities 132 and 133 respectively in data structures corresponding to the second and third sales orders that are planned as part of the transportation plan. Similarly, the break activities are a little more than a place holder within the transportation plan, but still require data stored within the sales orders. This redundant data tends to negatively influence performance as very large data sets become involved with increasing size of the supply chain.
Additionally, any change to one of the orders will result in deletion of shipment activities and could result in invalidation of the transportation plan. Instability of the transportation plan negatively impacts performance and reliability and is a significant issue in TPVS. Additionally, splitting shipment quantities for transportation is difficult or impossible because a TPVS system would need to split the sales order itself. In existing supply chain management systems, TPVS systems typically have insufficient rights to the sales order document to permit such a split. This can lead to inefficient vehicle usage.